My only problem is that I planted them when I had a different colour scheme in the porch garden. Yellow and red and orange were the chief colours...it was my very first year gardening, and I thought I was going to love it!
Then everything came up...HATED IT!
I found out that I'm really not into the whole 'warm tone' thing. Or if I was going to go for warm tones, it would have to be more monochromatic to float my boat.
What did I do? I ripped everything out and started over! A few of the casualties...
Ok. I didn't rip out everything. I left these.
'Blackout' Asiatic Lily. I have 4 patches of these in my porch garden. Actually, maybe it's three now? I think I accidentally removed one of the patches when I was messing with the soil...
Anyway, I don't know why I left them. Don't get me wrong, I think they're beautiful, I just don't think they fit in with my garden. Any of my gardens, really. They're a lot more burgundy than they look in the picture. Hence, the 'Blackout'.
AND they spread like wildfire. I'm not a fan of plants that do that. Most people would be happy because they get more beautiful flowers, and don't have to shell out the extra dough. But not moi.
I guess it's the control freak in me. When I was a kid, I was always one to colour inside the lines. And I expect my flowers to colour inside the lines too.
Back to the question. Why did I keep them? I guess because the flowers are usually gone by the time I really get going with planting. And Mr. A told me that he really liked them once, so maybe that's why I have a soft spot for them. I like to call it Executioner's Guilt.
Normally I don't have a problem ripping things out of my garden that I don't like. Look what I did to Dusty Miller in 'You Say Potato, I Say Potahto'. The only thing I regret removing are the red dahlias in the last 'casualty' photo I showed you above.
I would give the asiatic lilies to friends, but none of my friends really garden. And the one that does, plants mostly shrubs and foliage plants.
So...what do you guys do when you decide you don't like something you've planted?
Do you make like a Beatle and Let It Be? Do you rip it out without a second thought? Do you give it away to friends? Or have you been satisfied with every planting decision you've ever made? :P
Inquiring Kynas want to know!
I may have kept the crayon inside the lines, but I definitely wasn't a boring kid...
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27 comments:
Fortune favours the brave! He who hesitates is lost! One bold move beats many bashful steps. Never burn a healthy dwarf!
Oh, just rip them up and do your thing!
LOL, Kyna! Your story of the lilies reminds me of when I was a young gardener...just in my 20's. I had Easter Lilies and purple queen that grew so rampantly, I felt like they were getting out of control. I went through great trouble to remove them. Yes, I always colored inside the lines as well. I have since learned what "invasive" really is! And the beauty of those Easter Lilies! What was I thinking?!!!
Oh, and I must say we love the hot colors at PINV!
Wow that last photo just stunned me after viewing the beautiful flowers. LOL
Yes I have made a lot of planting mistakes and will again this year. A lot of the time I just let them die off or pull them out. Did that last year.
Executioner's Guilt...cute, I love it. In the past I've usually given away plants that I was less than fond of, or that just didn't suit their location. I've historically been a 'cool tone' gardener, but for some reason I'm finding myself drawn to the brighter warm tones as well now. I'm learning, albeit slowly, to find ways to plant any color I wish, using breaks of green, or white blooming plants in between to avoid loud clashes in the garden. Some brights and cool tones go well together here, the oranges with purples, the yellows with blues, for a that splashy Mediterranean look. We also have enough space here that if something doesn't fit where it is...I can just simply move it.
Life is about choices. Do you have a back corner where the plants that have fallen from favor could all hide out together until the next color wave?
I am trying to be better about ripping out those plants that I do not like but it can be a struggle. I do like the cooler colors in my garden. I think it is because of our hot summer weather and I like my garden to "look" cool, at least visually.
I rip it out (as I did with orange daylilies), or move it where it looks better, or I plant something to keep the peace, as it were. There's nothing wrong with ripping out plants you no longer like. If you can't give them away, they make good compost.
In Edmonton there is a plant exchange. Held once a year, the only requirement is that you bring something to exchange. Maybe there is something in your area.
You are breaking my heart with killing these beautiful plants. Donate them to a neighbour or how about digging up some space and calling it the garden of out of favour. That way if they ever go back into favour you can move them back.
I move it, without question. However, I can't throw a plant away. I give it to a friend or plant it in a vacant lot / field. I usually move my plants at least twice! I'm seldom happy the first time around.
I understand only too well about growing something because your loved one said he liked it. In my case, it was usually said casually and in passing, because he doesn't really care that much as long as I'm happy with the garden, and it's taken me a while to realize I ought not necessarily act on such comments; he may not remember them a few months later.
I'd say get rid of all but a few; pot up a couple of bulbs just for him and that way they stay in control. I gave my parents a 5-gallon decorative container of Asiatic lilies 10 years ago, and they still bloom profusely and *in bounds* every summer. :)
I felt guilty for evening thinning out the seedlings!
Kyna, It's funny; in the rest of my life, I'm definitely a "If in doubt, throw it out" sort of person, but not in the garden. I have had so many plants that I was trying to grow die on me, that I hate to destroy anything that's growing successfully. At this point, though, I have so many self-sown volunteers, that I can't possibly leave them all where they are. My solution has been to dig a "nursery bed" (my equivalent to Nell's back corner) where I can stick volunteers until I see who they grow up to be and perfectly good plants that I just don't like until I can find someone who would like them. -Jean
We had so much empty that until last year we always had someplace to stash plants that didn't fit or we didn't know what to do with. Pull them out, you can always plant new ones. And how come when you garden, no one else around you does? I don't get it. I gave hosta and ligularia to neighbors and i usually get deer in the headlight stares. jim
Let 'er Rip! If something is not bringing you pleasure, get rid of it. If you don't have any friends who garden like you do, take them to the local garden club (and stay a while, you may leave with friends who garden like you do).
I have a garden called the Widow's Walk where I planted plants who have black or acid green flowers, stems or foliage. I also allow deep blue and purple flowers in here. Lovely, Except when the Hydrangea nigra, which I planted for it's black stem, blooms a pale, insipid pink. What do we do? Off with their heads! We deflower her, poor maiden. Cindee
I have no problem ripping out the old to make room for the new....but I always try to find a home for my displaced plants.
I bet you kept all your crayon's in their correct order in the box aswell :)
I love your analogy to coloring inside the lines! It is a joy to read your post Kyna! Always creates a smile. You just do what you want to do... grow what you want to grow... I have rarely taken anything out but plants have been taken out by voles, bishops weeds and the like. Enjoy your garden!
....laughing.......you're funny.
I think the longer I garden, the more ruthless I get (toward underperforming plants, that is). I rip it out and give it away if possible. If I can visualize success in another part of the garden or with another plant partner, I usually plunk it into the plant holding bed 'til I think of something.
There are enough things in life to feel guilty about right?
Christine in Alaska
I am totally riddled with guilt when I kill a plant. It's the dormant tree hugger in me that thinks killing plants for aesthetic reasons is kinda cruel. I too, feel guilty when I thin seedlings, but all of that did not stop me from removing a fugly evergreen bush thingie last fall.
I have a hard time disposing of plants that displease me, and rarely do it! I just hate to waste the money, and the flowers. But I did rip out a few invasives in my old garden, and never looked back. Hey, I just remembered, the ones I ripped out were started from seed, that's why it didn't bother me! They were cheap! I have two kinds of plants by the shady front porch that bore me silly, but I'm "supposed" to love heucheras and hostas so I just let them be. Why can't I just rip them out? Just because everyone raves about hostas and heucheras means I have to love them too? LOL
I pull the plants out and start a new bed somewhere (can't throw them away). I keep promising my husband I wont expand the garden any more, but ...
Ha! Gotta love then "IN living color" is tossed in with a garden story!
So? Are you going to tell us what happened? Did they stay or did they go? I enjoyed your post - thank you!
IG: I like the 'One bold move beats many bashful steps'. Thanks for the advice lol.
FG: I know that my lilies are not really invasive, I just don't like them lol. I think if I liked them, I might not mind them colouring outside the lines a little ;) And in the picture they look 'hotter' than they actually are. They're pretty dark in real life :)
Becca: I'm sorry to have given you a shock lol. That picture is of me as a little kid, I was playing with stickers. And of course the stickers being of eyes and mouths and moustaches, I HAD to put them on my face :D
CVF and Nell Jean: I probably should just make a 'whatever' garden lol. I do have space, I just would have to roll up my sleeves and make one. I just hate starting new gardens....takes forever for them to stop growing in with grass....
Noelle: I've read about that in gardening magazines. Cool colours make a hot climate feel cooler. I think I would tend towards believing that...my front garden is that way.
Mr. MacG's D: Thanks for making me feel better about it! :)
Anonymous: Sorry to be breaking your heart :P I just don't really know anyone that gardens here, and I don't feel like going door to door hawking my lilies LOL. I may try and move them, I don't know.
Kimberly: That's actually a good idea, maybe I'll plant them across the street LOL. There's nothing for them to clash with over there...
Meredith: I'm glad the one you gave your parents is behaving itself lol.
Jess: I do too! Especially when it's something I love. Like sunflowers. I just want to let them all go....
Jean: You have a point. I've had quite a few things die on me, and it is a shame to throw away a plant that's doing well. It's just hard for me when I just don't like something lol.
Jim: LOL. Isn't that the truth? Most people on my street are so boring with their gardening. Just flowerless shrubs and trees. With the occasional flowering pear (which STINK) thrown in. Not even a hosta. I get so many stares from people driving by, as if they'd never seen flowers before lol. I think they don't want the 'trouble' of growing anything more difficult than boxwood. Even though most flowers and showy foliage plants aren't really that much trouble.
Cindee: LOL @ deflowering your maiden. I never really think about joining a gardening club. I'm sure there's one around here, but I'd be a little shy about doing that. I don't feel confident enough about my gardening skills/knowledge...
Sunny: Good way to be, from what I've been reading :D
Stone Art: Actually, I'm kind of a walking contradiction. I tend to be a very messy person. I'm better about that now that I'm married to a neat person. But I'm super-organized in my own weird way. However, I do remember keeping my crayons very neat. Which my mum probably thought was hilarious, since my room looked like a cyclone hit it. LOL I'm selectively controlling ;)
Kelly: Thank you! :)
Christine: Amen to that! :D
Tatiana: Fugliness is in the eye of the beholder! Wait, I think I may use that as a future post title :)
Robin: You know what, it's hard for me to rip out something that I paid a lot for. For instance, my camellia that I planted last year, looks like it has some sort of disease. I really don't want to rip it out unless it becomes so bad that it's leafless or something. My husband paid a good amount for it, AND it was a gift from him. AND I just want to see if I can will it to get better lol.
Pam: Haha! I can imagine the look on his face when he sees a new addition. I can imagine it, because I get the same look :D
Dirty Girl: I loved In Living Colour...especially the 'Men on Films' skit. I'm glad you enjoyed it, I was thinking after I posted, that most people probably wouldn't bother watching the clip long enough (or at all) to get why I posted it. ;)
I try to find a home for an unwanted plant .. but some times that just doesn't work and it hits the composter of the city .. better to come back as black gold though than completely wasted .. which is what I would like to be after todays events with the trapped raccoon ..... BIG sigh !
Hey .. I love the kitty with the moose antlers girl !! it screams "I am CANADIAN" all she needs is a Tim bit and coffee mug ?? haha
Timbit?? Oh, I miss Timbits! Good thing there's not a Tim Hortons within a few hundred miles, or I'd have togo out and get one now...:P
Racoon troubles? I'll have to run over and catch up on your posts, I've been off of here for a couple of days!
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